User Reviews (1 - 11 of 36)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Great game, bad package

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: May 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Think of this more as 4.5 stars. Jane's F/A-18 is probably the best combat flight sim I have ever played. Anybody who liked F-15 or Microprose's Falcon series will love the attention to detail, superb flight modeling and living world of this game. Unfortunatley, the cheapo EA-Classics package, while cheap, robs the game of a very important tool: a printed manual.

This is a very, very complicated simulation. Almost every button in the virtual cockpit is clickable and performs an important function; everything from turning formation lights on and off to switching A-A radar submodes from RWS to TWS is possible in the game. And if the preceding sentence didn't make much sense to you, you will probably have some problems with the game.

With a printed manual, a dedicated newbie could slug his or her way through the game, learning functions and important options as they go along, responding to each situation as it comes; however, the 150 page manual comes only in Adobe Acrobat format, making it very hard to check on functions 'on the fly', no pun intended. There are a suite of tutorial missions, but they teach only very basic functions, and don't even touch on the various radar submodes, complex FLIR pod functions, and advanced air to ground missiles, all of which have unique operating modes.

Once you figure all of this out, though, this game can be infinitley rewarding: nursing a highly damaged aircraft with hydraulics problems and one engine running on fumes back to an aircraft carrier one hundred miles away, only to hear a frantic 'Wave off! Wave OFF!' from the LSO and knowing you won't have enough juice to make another pass is a very deep feeling.

All of the cockpit chatter, realistic damage effects, and advanced wingman controls help suspend your disbelief and make you think you are really in total control of a fifty-million dollar aircraft. Only one thing takes me back to the fact that it's a computer program: on my system, a P3-450 with 96 megs of ram and a 64mb Geforce 2, the game is really choppy at 800x600 with medium detail. I have a feeling this is sloppy coding on behalf of the team; the better looking Jane's USAF (from a different developing team) runs smoothly at 1024x768 with full details on my rig. Still, now I have a good reason to upgrade!

In short: If you are a serious simmer, get this game now. You won't find any better now and perhaps for a long while.

I feel...I feel the need...the need for speed!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is a piece of art. Not software, art

In this game, you fly the famous F/A-18E Super Hornet, the Navys most advanced strike fighter. You have a lot of weapons and equipment at your disposal, about 30 each of Air-to-Air and Air-to-ground, ranging from the M61 Vulcan cannon, the AGM-65 Maverick, the AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-9 Sidewinder, TALD's(Tactical Air launched decoys) and the like to NAVFLIR, ATFLIR, Chaff, and data link pods.

The flight model is extremely realistic, but you can adjust it to the level of realism you want. For you people that can fly but cant land on a carrier, your in luck, because the F/A-18E has an ACLS (Automatic Carrier Landing System). However, you should be at least and ace in the virtual sky, if you are a pudknocker(if you dont know what that means forget it), dont buy it. Start with something like F-22 Lightning.

The scenery is terrific to. When you turn it up to 1024x8??x32, it looks pretty photogenic. The carriers, other ships, planes, ground objects, etc, are all extremely accurate. Then theres the cockpit. Its beautiful. You will find yourself staring at it a long time. Its extremly accurate, compared to pictures I've seen of the real F/A-18E's cockpit. All the switches (except for 2) are active in the cockpit, everything really works, no showbiz here.

In overall, this game is really good. It does run on XP, but you will have to download the patch that's on cd first. Also, if you dread textbook type manuals, reconsider.

Awesome game, but a little complicated

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: September 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

In the past, Jane's fighter sims have been okay, but not the best. That opininon is about to be changed with F\A-18. This sim puts you on the catapult of the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-997) and blasts you alof with at least twice as much power and exhileration than any other flight sim. Then you go skimming above the water, shooting down an occansional aircraft with your AIM 120-AMRAAM missles. Then you procede to bomb an airfield, or launch a cruise missle at enemy ships at dock or mine a bay. Then you return yo the USS Ronald Reagan and circle until your cleared for landing and lower your landing gear, flaps and tailhook. Following the LSO's (Landing Signal Officer) directions you touch down and grap an okay3. If you miss you hear bolter-bolter-bolter and you will reenter the landing pattern. If you hear a wave off, you start again. That is a typical mission in F\A-18. The complicated part is the cockpit. The cockpit has dozens of switches which re hard to memorize. the game also doesn't with a printed manual, which is really a pain. However, the game is definatly rewarding if you like dodging missles, bombing targets, launching missles, minning ports, and taking off and landing on aircraft carriers. If you don't like that, you will be bored. In other words, but this game NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

F/A 18 Rules The Fighter sim world

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I shall start out by saying that this is the first Janes combat sim that I have. I love the game but I recommend that if you are a kid that you have some help during bombing ( And you can trust me on that, IT'S WAY HARD). The one thing that I like best about the game is the 3D cockpit and Flight Simulator is a joke compared to F-18. I love the Reference which has information about everything from a ZUNI rocket pod to the SU-27. Janes did a great job of creating a simulation of a maritime aircraft that wasn't even in production at the time of the game release. The game is so cool that I wish that I could try the F-15 simulation. Buy this game unless you aren't good at performing tight menouvers in a flight sim.

it's the best simulation game i'v ever seen !!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

i have lots of flight simulation games and from all of them, Jane's has the most fun and realistic games. F/A-18 is the best from all of them. It has the best graphics, features and it's fun. Not recommended for beginners, but if you like flight games - this is the right choice!

This Game Rules

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: March 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

FA 18 is a great but complex game. You should do training missions if you want to succeed in the campaign.The cockpit is 3D and very hard to figure out, but if you like combat simulations buy it, just prepare for a extreme challenge ( the voices on the radio get annoying too).

Best Flight Game of its time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: December 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Of all the flight sims I've played this one was the best. Everything about it was wonderful from the graphics to the game play.

I recommend this to anyone who like combat flight sims.

Since its from janes it carries alot of accuracy along with it.

Good Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: May 31, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Hey. i have this game. it is the best simulation game i own. there is only 1 problem. if u dont have a good enough graphic driver , u cant c very much. i recommened a voodo 8 or higher.

Flying Fantasticly awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: December 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is the best jet game in the world. It has the best graphics in the world!!!!!!!!! It has all the controls in a real fighting jet. If you like detailed graphics and challenging missions then this is the game for you!If you are just sitting here right now thinking about buying it, then instead of thinking , just buy it now. TRUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST ME!!!!!!!!!!!

BEATS USAF, FALCON 4.0, AND ALL OTHERS HANDS DOWN!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 32
Date: March 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Falcon is a great game, but way too many crashes and bugs...my copy finally found the trash. And USAF is fun, if you don't mind sacrificing realism and detail for ease of play. Jane's F/A-18 has stability, blazing graphics and gameplay, and realism with detail beyond compare. It does everything other flight sims try to do, and puts it all in a finished, well rounded package. The manual is well written, although the use of a few of the weapons could have been expanded on. Online training missions have filled that need. FA/18's graphics equal and sometimes surpass Falcon's. The 3-D cloud, weather, and lighting effects are groundbreaking. Try dropping out of a 7000 foot stormcloud ceiling, watching the mist dissipate around you and lightning flash in all directions...see the glow of your afterburners from behind and watch your left side light up as you fire an AIM-120 to pierce through the darkness, winding it's way to an unsuspecting MIG-27. After the orange fireball plunges into the cold water, turn and head towards your carrier group. As you break through a low layer of spotty clouds, you see your carrier cutting through the shimmering moon-lit sea. You know your biggest challenge is yet to come...catching the tailhook of your 45,000 pound fighter on one of four wires, while your flight deck rocks and sways in the choppy waters. Communications realism is incredible, including dozens of commands that can be given to your wingman, section, division, or entire flight. Direct a few squadron members out front to take out enemy SAM sites or AAA, clearing the way for you and your wingman to deliver the strike while another section provides air cover. Contact AWACS to request information on enemy group locations and bearings. Unlike many flight sims, in Jane's your AI planes will do what you tell them, without crashing into the ground or performing unexplained maneuvers. Weapons are also modeled with excellent realism, and there are many to choose from: Laser guided bombs, GPS guided munitions, stand off lond distance weapons, anti-personnel, anti-armor, and several versions of the AIM-120, AIM-7 Sparrow, and Sidewinder series. Go into custom arming and pick a predefined loadout or load each of the ! eleven! weapon stations individually. Use data link pods, FLIR targeting pods (forward looking infrared), air launched decoys, or just pickle a "dumb bomb" by planting the crosshairs on your target. Launch the harpoon anti-ship missile after choosing options such as flight profile and skim or pop-up final attack. I've heard complaints about the virtual cockpit and lack of 2-D cockpit. Personally, I never play any sim using the 2-D cockpit, as you can't swivel your "virtual head" to see what is to the sides or behind you. So while Falcon's 2-D cockpit is a bit prettier, F/A-18's virtual cockpit beats Falcon's virtual and works very well. I'll take functionality over beauty any day. Many missions available online complement the great ones included. You'll also find training missions and add-ons like custom cockpits and aircraft skins online. This is the best fighter simulation available this year! F/A-18 isn't good at one thing...it's great at everything. I run it on a PIII450 with 96MB RAM and a Viper550 graphics card and it runs very smooth at full detail. If you have a decent system that can handle other simulations of this quality, you will not be disappointed. I've flown F-15, and this blows it away.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions